COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A contractor at Palisades Nuclear Plant fell into a water-fill cavity above the fission reactor on Tuesday and had to be decontaminated.
The incident was reported by the plant's owner, Holtec International, to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
According to a company spokesperson, the contractor was working inside the containment building when they fell into the water around 9:30 a.m. on October 21. At the time, the person was wearing required protective equipment, including a life vest, because they were working near a pool of water without a barrier like a railing.
Other people working in the containment building helped to pull the contractor from the water, but not before they swallowed some of the water, per the incident report with the NRC.
The contractor was decontaminated on site, but still had detectable levels of radiation. Holtec sent the worker for off-site treatment around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The incident came as Holtec is working to restart the shuttered nuclear plant on the shore of Lake Michigan. If successful it would be the first such facility to be shut down and restarted in the U.S.
The plant just received its first shipment of fuel on Monday.
Radiation assessments are on-going. Holtec expects the exposure amount to fall below limits set in federal regulations.
The contractor returned to work on Wednesday, according to Holtec.
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